Modernism is...

Tomorrow we're going to look at the poetry of Robert Frost.  For all intents and purposes, Frost seems out of place among the other Moderns we've explored:  Hemingway, Eliot, and Fitzgerald.  So we're able to see how he fits and so we can build on our understanding of this delicious literary movement, let's try to nail down our thinking about what characterizes the Moderns.  You are welcome to just explore one characteristic of Modernism or many, but try not to give it all away so we each have something to contribute.  You are also welcome to use research to add to your understanding.  Regardless of the option you choose, use one idea or passage from one of the Modern texts we've explored to support your thinking.  Oh yes, and did I mention the fact that we're thinking metaphorically?  I'll start, but with a different movement so I don't inadvertently steal your thinking.

Realism is a family portrait.  It zooms in on people, rather than landscape, to try to show who they really are.  Though a portrait might be staged, if one looks close enough, he can see the reality beneath.  Look at their eyes, demands realism.  Look at their body language.  What is in the background, this movement asks?  What story does this truly tell?  It is these sensory perceptions that will lead us to reality.  Hayden's "The Janitor Who Paints" shows these tenets of realism.  It is, in fact, a family portrait, but if one looks closely, one notices the spartan nature of the subjects' apartment, the broom and mop in the background.  The title itself tells us that reality--the janitor--is not as beautiful as it seems--the artist.  Realism is a family portrait.

Love Songs

Tomorrow we're going to read a famous Modern poem entitled "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock".  It just happens to be my favorite. :)  Because we've been exploring the idea of love in our Modern texts, I want us to think about this idea, but particularly how it looks in "Prufrock".  Eliot tells us from our first glance that this is a love song, so let's think about what that idea means.

In a brief, well-proofread post, identify a favorite love song.  This might be one of yours, or one that's considered so by pop culture.  In addition to naming that song by artist and title, give a sense for it.  What is it about?  What story does it tell?  Consider even capturing a bit from the lyrics. 

I'll start...
One of my favorite love songs is the song my husband and I danced to at our wedding called "Feet Don't Touch the Ground".  It's by an obscure Texas country singer named Stony Larue.  The lyrics tell the story of two people who come from completely different backgrounds and think they could never get used to the other setting; one is from a small town and doesn't think she could love a big city while the other is used to an urban setting and doesn't think he could live in the country.  Ultimately, as one might expect, he is willing to forego what he's used to because he falls in love with her.  Here is a little taste:  "I was used to the boulevard./ When I saw you, I fell so hard./ Now I never want to leave;/ I could stay forever..." 

A Practice Synthesis Thesis...

Using your notes and understanding from today's discussion, post a synthesis thesis below.  This can be the one with which you're currently working for your ALIS essay or can be about 2 texts we've read this semester.  Regardless, combine your 2 texts AND the theory you plan on incorporating into your sample argument.

I hear Arapahoe singing...

Today we read 2 famous poems by Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman, both of whom profess to hear America singing.  They each go on to describe what they hear their cultures singing, saying, when they close your eyes.

Close your eyes and imagine you hear Arapahoe singing--the building, its people, its culture.  What do you hear?  Add a stanza to our collaborative poem.  Please be sure to avoid naming names. :)

I'll start (kind of).

I hear Arapahoe singing, the varied carols I hear...

ALIS book check in and recommendations

I would love your feedback on the following questions so your classmates have some ideas and guidance as they choose their spring ALIS books.  Please answer the questions below in a short paragraph.

1. Name and title of work.
2. To whom would you recommend this book and why?
3. What material, if any, might one find objectionable about this text?
4. To what extent did this novel selection help you experience ALIS success?

A Transcendental Experience

Capture your thinking about your transcendental experience.  What was the experience itself?  What thoughts did its ensuing reflection questions provoke for you?  Respond in at least 1 good-sized paragraph. 

One Last Fishbowl Blog: "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"

Fishbowl #5: "William Wilson"

Lead-in Class Notes

Notes on Lead-Outs:

Should answer these two questions:
Why does this connect to my thesis and topic sentences? To my school of theory?
How does the author’s craft contribute to the quotes meaning?

How question (how to answer it):
Diction: What words are interesting? Paradoxical? Ironic? Incongruous?
Syntax: How is the sentence put together? And interesting use of capitalization? Of punctuation?
Symbols: and symbol in there?

Analysis Check:

• Does the analysis make an argument, or is it simply retelling the quote?
• Does the analysis clearly link the quote to the topic sentence and thesis?
• Does the analysis relate that quote to your school of theory?
• Is the analysis specific to the quotation? Does it examine diction (word choice)? Connotations? Symbols? Syntax

Example:
The lottery was conducted---as were the square dances, the teen club, the Halloween program---by Mr. Summers who had time and energy to devote to civic activities.

syntax: the lottery=square dances, the teen club, Halloween
summer=happiness, incongruous
passive voice verbs=takes away the agency that someone would be responsible

Example 2:
“Clean forgot what day it was,”said to Mrs. Delacroix, who stood next to her, and they both laughed softly. “Thought my old man was out back stacking wood...then I looked out the window and the kids was gone, and then I remembered it was the twenty-seventh and came a-running.” She dried her hands on her apron...”

laughing=irony
clean vs. unclean
stacking rocks:oblivion
“kids was gone”: appear to make her not very smart whatsoever (feminist view)

Fishbowl #3: Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Minister's Black Veil"

My bad. :)

Fishbowl #1: "The Fall of the House of Usher"

If you are choosing to participate via comments on our class blog today, be sure you adhere to the same discussion expectations you would if you were in the inner circle:  challenging your classmates' thinking, basing your assertions on textual evidence, etc. 

There is not a finite number of times you need to contribute, but please be sure you thoughtfully participate throughout the course of the discussion.

Theory Theses

In a comment, post a thesis statement that uses either psychoanalytic theory or Marxist theory to create an argument about a work of your choice.  This can be about The Crucible or something else of your choosing.  Be sure to read the posts prior to yours so your ideas aren't redundant.

Effective Attention-Getters

Different kinds of attention-getters:

-personal anecdotes

-fact (shocking, impactful)

-imagery/painting a picture

Examples of GOOD attention-getters:

Yesterday while walking in my neighborhood, I passed a girl half my height. Both this

observation as well as her girlish pigtails and youthful expression led me to the assumption that she attended the elementary school across the street. After she passed me, I turned around to notice the word “JUICY” plastered across the top of her pants in bright pink letters. This strange juxtaposition of youth and flirtatiousness, of girlish immaturity and sexuality is a primary concern Huxley explores in his dystopian novel Brave New World.

Reasons why this is good:

-connects to our lives

-really grabs the attention because it makes a connection back to them, intrigues them to continue reading

You are told what wear: a grey tunic, the dress of all of your peers. You are told what to do:

you will sweep streets rather than being a scientist as you desire. You are told who to talk to:

you must not interact with anyone of the opposite sex nor develop intimate relationships with

friends or family. This is the reality of the dystopian universe Rand captures in Anthem.

Reasons why this is good:

-instructs the reader in what to do

-sets up the scene in the story really well

Not-so-good (bad) example:

During the year of 1941, very few flowers grew in Lorain, Ohio. The characters of The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, black girls in their early adolescence, also have trouble growing and flowering into confident, happy young women.

Reasons why this is not a good one:

-not shocking

-does not engage the reader

  

Concluding The Crucible

I'm dissapointed I didn't leave more time for us to discuss The Crucible's ending.  I love it and am always sad it's over.  I thought we brought up some great points today about the appendix, today's judicial system, Proctor's confession, Miller's use of the word "cannot", the motif of names, Giles's death, and many others.  Here are some questions I was thinking about as I listened and pondered today...

Why did the play end by focusing on Proctor and Elizabeth and completely leave out, for example, any mention of Abigail and the girls, our other prominent characters in the text?

I love Melaine's question about departures from reality, and am particularly wondering about that in relation to that "echoes down the corridor" snippet following Act IV.  I'm excited to do some more researching about this idea.  One particular facet that stuck out to me is the detail Miller references as to Elizabeth's future marriage.  I can't decide if/ how this changes my thinking about her.

I was also thinking about the idea of heroism and who the hero of The Crucible is, if it has a hero at all.  I've been talking about this a lot with one of my other classes so it's been on my mind...

Thoughts about these questions?  What thinking did our discussion and the end of the play inspire for you?

Understanding Theme and the Process

How to get to the theme:
1) Brainstorm the main idea of the novel.
2) What question does the author ask us to think about these ideas?
3) Think big picture and try to think of how the play answers the question.

Example:
1) prejudices
2) How do prejudices change an individuals' images?
3) Prejudices can cause a segregated individual to loose social status in a society.

What is a theme?
-big picture (universal)
-life lessons
-debatable
-messages
-prevalent throughout the entire book
-a statement (not an individual word, should read like a complete sentence when taken out of the thesis)

Annotations

What characterizes effective annotation?
-Shows how YOU think, not just what's happening
-Specific, elaborate, should be detailed
-Shows significance
-Does not capture that which will not contribute to understanding or analysis (i.e. reaction, questions)
-Finding the meaning of something you think may be important but do not understand (for example translating different languages)
-Keeps out the reactions and opinions
-Is well-organized, which may even include something such as color-coding
-Text to text connections should be included because they help to predict where the story/character may be going
-Is specific to the purpose of reading and digs deep into a couple concepts, don't try to focus on every idea possible.

August 31, 2010: culture, part deux

Culture:            

-Age
-Gender
-Geography
-Heritage
-Education Level
-The way we speak
-The social circles we inhabit

-I do agree that culture can play a key role in the way someone perceives the world and shaping their minds. Nowadays modern culture plays a large part in a persons life. However, I find it difficult to believe that one movie can change an entire person's point of view on a topic, no matter how powerful the movie is.

-Killing someone is not worth remaining loyal to your spouse. I highly doubt that Sarah's testimony is true. The seed idea of killing must be previously implanted in her brain for her to remain stout throughout the slaughterings.

-I highly doubt that one movie can sway an entire person's sense of morals.

-I don't understand the point about how rules of  parents have anything to do with doing drugs and murdering people. I don't understand how killing can have such an impact from a small, insignificant piece of culture.

-I highly doubt that celebrities can be the main cause of drugs in culture. There are more things in life other than society.

-Events of life can influence an individuals life. One person may not be influenced by the events because of their positive choices. However, not everyone can do that. Some people are not strong enough to be able to handle their events and as such their life is greatly affected by it.

Law and Order part two: Who's to blame?

After discussing the John Grisham article "Unnatural Killers", we discussed the idea of culture and blame, of who holds responsibility--the individual or the culture he or she inhabits.  After reaching our "verdict" today, I asked you to read Stone's response "Memo to John Grisham..."

In a thoughtful, well-crafted and proofread response, capture how Stone's response has helped your thinking evolve.  How does it change your thinking?  Reinforce it?  Point to particular evidence in Stone's article to defend your thinking.

Scribe post 8/26: Lead-outs

lead outs:

• describes thinking of narrator 
• doesn't just explain quote but goes back to thesis
• multiple sentence (2-3)

Lead outs have essentially 2 purposes

1. To explain WHY you chose the quote. WHY is it interesting? Important? significant?
2. To explain how it connects with your thesis and topic sentences. HOW does it further your argument.

Point 1 furthered:
1. Diction

• words that seem out of place
• Interesting verb choices
• words that are particularly evocative

2. Symbols

• Words/Ideas that have a secondary, deeper meaning.

3. Syntax

• How did the author structure his/her sentence? how does it differ from other sentences in the piece

Point 2 furthered:
Thesis connect samples:

This quote shows that....
This passage illustrates that...
This quote demonstrates that...
This passage illuminates...